With the Hall of Fame induction ceremony being replayed on a television behind him and to the right, the man who one day will be enshrined in Cooperstown was defeated. He was frustrated, as has happened so many times in his nascent Red Sox career. He was demoralized. He was without answers as to why pitches that felt good, just as he felt good, were being turned around on him.

“No matter what I say today, it’s not going to matter,’’ John Smoltz said, with a half sigh, h...

BOSTON - - When Orioles manager Dave Trembley decided to give slumping Aubrey Huff the day off in Sunday's series finale against the Boston Red Sox, he had a couple of options to fill Huff's cleanup spot. His decision to hit Nick Markakis there came down to one factor.

"I went up to him today and said, 'I'm putting you in the four-slot because you're our best guy,' " Trembley said. "Look how he played."

BOSTON - -After what had transpired on this nine-game road trip, there was very little that was going to allow the Orioles to board a plane here Sunday night feeling good about themselves or the future of their organization.

But over seven innings Sunday afternoon against a lineup that has doomed so many Orioles pitchers before him, rookie right-hander David Hernandez delivered the finest and longest start of his young career and provided the organization with one posit...